What the heck is scrape week?

By Tyler Mieden  | PUBLISHED September October 26th, 2021

It’s scrape week. If you’ve never heard of scrape week, it’s essentially that 7-10 day period when bucks are highly active throwing dirt, grass, and leaves before licking the branch above and pissing in that now bare patch of ground. Bucks are scent marking their home territory as they ramp up for what’s to come - the rut. Here in Wisconsin, that time of year is toward the end of October. 

It’s a great time to be out in the woods before bucks start the chasing and seeking phases of the rut. Bucks start to get active during daylight hours giving you a great chance to punch your tag on a shooter buck. If you are running trail cams, you’ll likely see the same bucks you’ve had on camera ramp up activity during scrape week. Once the the chasing and seeking begins, that’s when you get pictures and (hopefully) encounters with bucks you’ve never seen.

We are just okay at hunting here, but if you find a fresh scrape now, think about setting up near it regardless of whether you are hunting private or public land.

If you need inspiration or want to see awesome pictures, check out Exodus Trail Cameras and search #scrapeweek.